


Beaten, Battered & Bruised

by hollu



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Spies & Secret Agents, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, Lotor is a villain, M/M, Minor Injuries, Presumed Dead, Sheith Secret Santa 2018, Shiro Says Fuck, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-29
Updated: 2018-12-29
Packaged: 2019-09-30 02:33:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17215388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hollu/pseuds/hollu
Summary: They used to be gym partners, but lately Shiro and Keith have found themselves spending more time battling criminals than lifting weights.This may be a battle they won't return from.





	Beaten, Battered & Bruised

Neon lights, the busy hustle of the city, oncoming traffic passing by. Shiro grew up in this comfortable atmosphere; the city was all he knew since he was just a boy.

He much rather wished his missions stayed within it.

\---

The car ride was mostly quiet, save for the noise of other cars passing by and the occasional thump from gravelly potholes. Shiro couldn’t help but shift uncomfortably in the backseat of the taxi as the tight fabric of his white tuxedo clung to his arms. The more he began to nervously sweat, the more the material stuck to his body like glue. There would be no right way to get around the feeling, and a defeated sigh left his lips at the realization. He’d just have to get used to the suffocation.

“I wish we didn’t have to wear the jackets, I could do without it,” a voice said next to him, voicing Shiro’s exact thoughts. Next to him in the vehicle was his trusted partner in crime, Keith Kogane. He was also visibly uncomfortable in his own black tuxedo, tugging on the sleeves to attempt to give himself some wiggle room. 

Shiro stifled a laugh, reaching over and smoothing out some of the wrinkles that managed to form on Keith’s jacket. “You look nice, I like the ponytail.”

Thinking back to when Shiro first met Keith, things were never this anxiety-inducing. After a stress-relieving day at the gym, Keith wasn’t paying attention and tried to break into Shiro’s car thinking it was his own—scaring Shiro shitless thinking he was getting robbed by some crook. They became friends after that, then gym buddies, hung out on the regular and messed around like any other guys their age would. Training sessions with Keith was something Shiro always looked forward too, and he never expected that it would essentially evolve into the gateway to spy work.

One night, a tall woman approached them (quite eerily) in the pitch-black parking-lot after a rigorous training day, the sound of her heels against the pavement echoing through the vacant space. She introduced herself as Allura, explaining that she had her eye on them both for a while and was impressed with their physical skills. She then proceeded to offer them a deal that was pretty hard to refuse: work for her in exchange for anything they wish.

Now, Shiro really wasn’t a materialistic kind of guy, but Keith seemed to promptly jump on the offer without too much thought. He couldn’t just let him do this on his own, so he joined him. They were training buddies after all. Shiro wasn’t about to let Keith one-up him this time.

Their assignments had started out pretty mediocre, either involving testing out new spyware, gathering simple information on suspected criminals or delivering confidential packages to allies. Today’s mission, though, seemed to be a big step forward from what they were used to. It seemed that their lives were finally at risk, and that if they weren’t careful; one slip-up would put both them and the mission in jeopardy.

At that dark and final thought, the taxi was brought to a slow stop. They arrived at their destination.

\---

The setting was almost too perfect; almost like right out of the movies. Shiro and Keith stood in front of a big white mansion with a running fountain out front, perfectly trimmed hedges outlining the property. After stepping inside, they were met eye-to-eye with a clean glistening lobby and a heavy chandelier hanging overhead. Handsome waiters in matching outfits with silver platters mingled around the crowd, handing out champagne and hors d'oeuvres. This wasn’t a place Shiro would find himself in his regular life—hell he wasn’t expecting it in his undercover life either—but a job was a job.

Tonight, their target was a man named Lotor, a stuck-up trust fund kid with some shady rumors floating around about him. Allura had received an anonymous tip informing her that he may be involved in illegal trafficking, selling people off in underground auctions as pieces of property. His father was caught and jailed for similar crimes, and it made a lot sense if Lotor was following in his footsteps to continue his work. Shiro hoped it wasn’t the case, but if it were, he was ready to expose him. 

It was a big possibility that the party happening here tonight was supposed to act as a disguise for what was really happening behind the scenes, but they needed the proof first; _they needed Lotor._

“What are you thinking about?” Keith cuts in, interrupting Shiro’s thoughts (in the best way possible).

“How I’ve never seen you look so elegant before,” Shiro jokes before apologizing. “Sorry… I’m actually just worried about how out in the open we are. We’re so used to working in the dark— being out in the open feels kind of… naked.”

“Being naked is the only way we can confirm that Lotor is trafficking these innocent people, Atlas,” Allura jumps in, speaking to him through the device in his ear. “You know how important this mission is, learn to blend with the crowd.”

“Understood,” Shiro repeats, responding to the undercover agent name Allura assigned to him.

“We’ll be fine,” Keith adds, those simple words moderately calming Shiro’s nerves. He offered his friend a bright smile, hoping Keith knew just how thankful he was to have him as his partner and no one else. He didn’t think he would’ve been able to pull off these missions if it weren’t for Keith bringing out the best in him and vise-versa. Shiro wasn’t lost to how much Keith’s physical skills improved over this short time, some days he found himself not being able to take his eyes off of him. 

“You’re right, Red,” Shiro agreed, pulling Keith in close by his hip so they looked like a proper pair. There was no better way to blend in at this party than to be disguised as romantic partners. “Together, the two of us are unstoppable.”

\---

It didn’t take long to assess the scene.

While appearing and acting like lovers to the crowd, Shiro and Keith both kept their eyes and ears focused on other things. They eavesdropped on lingering conversations and learned that for the most part, a lot of the people were fully convinced that this was just a fun party with no strings attached. Those were the people that kept to the ground floor and didn’t move or mingle to much from their spots.

The odd moment though, Shiro noticed that certain party guests would disappear for minutes at a time and would be replaced by other guests he didn’t notice when he came in. Keith seemed to sense it too, and timed the intervals when these strange occurrences happened.

“Fifteen minutes,” Keith whispered to Shiro, “every fifteen minutes they cycle around. That’s how much time we have to get in and get out.”

“Then that’s our window of opportunity” Allura spoke into their earpiece. “The next time they shift around, one of you will need to go and locate Lotor’s office. I’m sure he’s keeping track of everything in a file locked on his hard drive. Fifteen minutes will be pushing the limit a bit, there’s no room for error”.

“I’ll do it,” Keith volunteered at an almost scary speed, vouching to be the one to put himself at risk for the good of the mission.

Shiro knew it was going to be either one of them, _he knew it,_ but he couldn’t help the feeling of uneasiness that washed over him at the thought being separated. They were practically glued at the hip the moment they became friends, and splitting now gave him a bitter taste in his mouth. Who knew if this Lotor guy was more dangerous than they expected? What if he had precautionary measures in place of his office like alarms, traps, or worse… bombs?

“I—” Shiro cut himself off before he said too much, crossing some kind of line or boundary they hadn’t talked about yet. He couldn’t throw Keith off his game; besides, he had just said earlier that he was aware of how strong and capable Keith was. This was something he could probably accomplish easily. There was nothing to worry about, right? He could do this.

With a small hint of hesitation, Shiro let out a shallow sigh. “….Alright.”

“Then it’s decided,” Allura continues, “here’s the plan.”

\---

Fifteen minutes.

Shiro patiently remained on the bottom floor of the mansion, a half-empty glass of champagne placed between his fore-finger and thumb as he leaned against the bar counter. There had just been a new cycle in the group, and Keith jumped the moment it happened to blend in and sneak his way to the second floor. Shiro wanted to grab his wrist and stop him, to tell him _‘you don’t have to do this’_ or just to offer one wish of luck; but he didn’t have the strength to. Time was limited, if he wasted just a second of Keith’s time with nonsense like well wishes, he was sure he’d get both a strange look and an earful from Allura.

For now, he’d have to silently send all his good fortune to Keith. With how clever and deceptive he was, and his ability to never fail a mission thus far; he had this in the bag. If anyone could search and retrieve Lotor’s secret files within fifteen minutes, it was Keith— not even Shiro had the confidence to pull that over. 

And he was right.

Somehow, Keith was able to slip upstairs and into the enemy’s office in no time at all; notifying both Shiro and Allura with a simple, _“I found it.”_ Taking a glance down at his watch, Shiro confirmed that only a few seconds had passed, no matter how long they felt to him.

Shiro didn’t expect anything less from Keith, the thought bringing a smirk to his face. He had always impressed him; Keith was everything and more.

“I knew you could do it,” Shiro grinned, hearing a teasing huff from Keith on the other end. The sound of rapid typing was picked up by the microphone as Keith replied mockingly.

“Of course I could. Don’t doubt me now, old-timer.”

“Good work, Red,” Allura said cheerfully, “if you find anything that helps expose Lotor as the snake he is, even outside of the trafficking— download it onto the USB I provided you with. We’re finally going to put this low-life in jail where he belongs.”

“Allura… I—” Keith said on the other end, his voice cracking a bit, “All the files are here… The people being trafficked, who bought them, who’s yet to buy them…it's all here.” His voice sounded shaken, maybe even a bit rattled, but that was only expected for how heavy and emotional the situation was. Shiro couldn’t even imagine what it would be like to be one of those people, what kind of fucked-up mind would someone need to think that was okay?

“Red…” Shiro jumped in, trying to provide any kind of moral support he could. “We’ve got this— _you’ve_ got this…”

Shiro can hear a breathy laugh on the other end, probably to make the both of them feel better despite the heaviness. “We’re still a team, y’know. This is just as much your victory as it is mine” Keith says, _“Never give up; patience yields focus;_ you taught me that. We’re in this together for the long run.”

Shiro didn’t know why Keith saying those words tugged so hard at his heart strings, it hurt— but at the same time it filled him with a warm feeling of being safe and secure. The repetition of those three simple words _‘patience yields focus’_ seemed to stick with Keith like a motto to live by, and he somehow came up with his own motto on the spot that Shiro decided to hold onto for himself.

“We’re in this together…” he repeats. Just the two of them? Forever? That sounded… nice.

Immediately after saying those words, a cold presence entered the room Shiro was standing in, causing a violent shudder to run directly up his spine. What… was this…? It was almost as if a dark cloud blinded the room and rained down feelings of nerves and uneasiness upon Shiro, like suddenly he was wading through sinking mud instead of standing in the middle of a lobby. Was he being watched? Or was it just paranoia setting it?

Suddenly the imaginary dark cloud dispersed, clearing the air in front of him. His eyes focused in on an individual standing near the entrance that was most definitely the source of the cold presence.

“Lotor...”

He had finally made his appearance known since this party started, and it was obvious that every guest in the lobby had their eyes on him; he was pretty hard to miss. Lotor had an attractive and unforgettable face, modelled with a sharp nose and chin and long hair that would give even Allura’s a run for her money. His eyes were dead-set forward in a way that shouted he was one to never look back, but they were heavy in both knowledge and insight. His expression remained calm and serious, intimidating to say the least, as he was followed around by a group of admirers and a couple bodyguards with dark sunglasses covering their eyes.

“Atlas? What’s going on?” Shiro could hear Keith ask, a hint of worry in his tone.

“It’s Lotor, he just showed up and looks like he’s on the move. He may be onto us— how’s the info coming along?” Shiro warned him. The last thing he wanted was to allow Keith to be caught red-handed by Lotor and pulled into his dirty schemes. If Shiro had to jump in to distract him, he would. _Whatever it takes to buy Keith some time._

“I have only about 70% of his hard drive downloaded but it's not enough... this may be our only chance, I can’t leave until it's all done; can you buy me some time?”

Shiro glanced down at his watch, their fifteen minutes were barely up; but that didn’t matter now; Lotor was already here. In order to keep Keith safe and stall Lotor for a bit, Shiro had to create a scene. Something big enough to not create too much attention to himself, but enough that it gives Keith more time to collect as much data as he can.

He looked around the room for anything that stood out until his eyes landed on the buffet table, currently vacant.

“I have an idea, but it’s going to get a bit messy.”

“Be careful, Atlas.”

“You too.”

He moved swiftly, watching his surroundings before kicking the buffet table onto its side with a crash. The silver platters clattered against the hard-tiled floor as small appetizers flew in multiple different directions. The candles sitting on each end of the table tipped over and landed perfectly on the lace-white curtains, a flammable material that caught fire within seconds. It was a good setup, Shiro had to give himself some credit for this one.

But Shiro was gravely mistaken. He had _very_ poorly misjudged the danger of his current position.

He severely underestimated just how smart and quick-witted Lotor was. He should’ve known the moment Lotor showed up that his every move was being watched and the mission was in jeopardy.

Those heavy eyes were set on his own; bold and sinister with the intent to kill.

He still had to buy some time.

“We’ve been compromised, I’ve been found out. Stay on guard.”

“Wha— Atlas!? Hey!”

Shiro was hot on his toes, he reached into his suit jacket and pulled out the gun he had strapped to his chest; unloading a few warning shots at the ceiling to warn innocents to flee the scene.

The crowd dispersed amongst the room, the sound of breaking champagne glasses hitting the floor and screams of fear threatening to haunt Shiro’s dreams tonight. Lotor’s guards jumped in front of him and started taking on Shiro; three versus one; while Lotor escaped upstairs to safety. With all the bullets starting to come Shiro’s way, he had to duck behind a pillar to give himself a barricade of some sort.

Bullets whizzed past his hiding spot, directly hitting the bottles of booze at the bar behind him as they exploded into a million shards of glass. Once he thought there was an opening for him to get a shot in, he was shockingly hit in the shoulder with a very well-aimed bullet; spreading both immediate pain and blood throughout the area.

“God! _Fuck!”_ he cursed, clenching his teeth as he applied pressure on the wound.

He stayed put in his place, afraid that if he even tried to poke his head out again, he’d be killed in an instant. What _could_ he do in this situation except wait it out? Was he a sitting duck until Keith came to his rescue? 

“Atlas, I don’t know what’s going on but hang tight, alright?” Keith’s voice buzzed in, offering Shiro as much encouragement and support as he could for their current situation. “I… I got the USB. Its at 100%, I’m on my way just don’t m—”

The connection on their devices was suddenly cut, the only sound coming from the other end being eerie white noise that made Shiro feel like he wanted to throw up.

“Red? …Hey! Red!” Shiro’s voice shook, his eyes burning with the threat of tears. “God damnit, Keith! Respond!”

Anxiety was swelling up within him, something was wrong; he was in trouble.

“You can’t…” he broke, “please… no.”

He could hear Lotor’s guards’ approach closer, their heavy footsteps rapidly increasing his heart beat. This wasn’t how this was supposed to end… this wasn’t how anything was supposed to happen! Keith wasn’t… he had to live. Shiro couldn’t let him die.

Keith’s voice echoed in his mind. _‘Never give up; patience yields focus; you taught me that. We’re in this together for the long run’._

_Never give up._

This fight wasn’t over, not until Shiro did everything it took. He wasn’t going to give up on Keith until his vision went dark and body was numb…. or until his heart stopped beating.

The only thing he could focus on now was making it to Keith.

With one last push, Shiro used all of his strength to pick himself up off the ground. He lowered his hand from his bloody shoulder with a grunt and prepared his gun, ready to clear himself a path to the staircase. Any minute now, one of Lotor’s guards would turn around the corner and leave themselves open and vulnerable to a direct attack, and once that started— there was no stopping. This fight was going to be like jumping off a train at full speed.

Shiro’s wound made his arm feel cold and numb, his breath coming in irregular and unsteady waves that dizzied his vision. His impatience and desire to immediately run to Keith’s side wasn’t helping, and clouded his better judgement. There was no peace of mind for him until he could confirm Keith was living and breathing, because at the current moment; it felt like his greatest fears were coming alive.

His heart throbbed with worry, his good arm shaking with the inability to sit still as he waited for his apprehender to turn the corner. Shiro’s finger sat heavy on the trigger desperate for a shot as his eyes locked forward. It was a matter of seconds, time drawing out so long that it felt like hours had passed. But Shiro couldn’t afford to look away, and once he saw that first breadth of an arm peer out from around the corner; it was on.

Shiro immediately shot his gun, the guard hitting the floor after a single shot with a cry. He used this opportunity to rush forward; turning the corner at an accelerated rate in order to catch the second guard by surprise. Luckily, he swung his good arm forward the first chance he got and knocked the base of his gun into the guard’s chest with a hard blow. A loud sputter fell out of the guard’s mouth as they fell weakly to their knees with a wheeze. Shiro growled, unmoved and void of any empathy for the guard as he used the heel of his foot to kick them to the side and keep moving. 

Two down, one more to go.

“Keith…” Shiro said as softly as he could into his communication system, “I don’t know if you can hear me… but hold on tight, I’m almost there.”

With that final update, Shiro stopped as he spotted the last guard defending the staircase, protecting it with everything they had. They had both their eyes and their gun on Shiro and roughly clenched their teeth together.

“You’re too late,” they spat, the guard’s voice sounding sharp and venomous. “Lotor’s already incapacitated your partner and retrieved the information, there’s nothing you can do”.

“You’re lying!” Shiro bit back, his nails digging into the palm of his hand as he clenched his fist. He brought his gun back up, aiming it at the guard so that they were both at a stand-off. “Let me through, or I won’t hesitate to harm you.” 

They were silent for a moment before the click of their safety switching off reached Shiro’s ears. “…I can’t do that.”

Shiro let out an animalistic-like sound as he jumped to the side, anticipating the gunshot that was coming his way. Each time the gun went off, he swiftly avoided the line of fire whilst making his way closer to the enemy. He continued to think about Keith, about his well being, about whether or not there was a future for the two of them when this mission was over. His train of thought and doubts about Keith kept Shiro moving forward, building enough momentum and strength as the emotions built on top of one another. The weight he felt was heavy and packed with every single fear Shiro had, he almost didn’t know what to do with all of it. But he was close, and with all his power; he let all of those emotions go into one rough uppercut.

The guard was knocked out instantaneously.

Without sparing another thought towards the guards he left behind, Shiro began his ascension up the staircase. He desperately called out Keith’s name, praying that he’d hear him call for him in response; but all he was met with was silence.

A wave of dizziness washed over Shiro and he toppled over into the wall next to him, his entire body leaning on it for support. He reached up and covered his wound with his free hand again, the initial impact stinging and making him grunt out weakly. There was no denying he pushed himself too far, he lost so much blood already that it’s honestly a mystery how he’s been able to keep moving. 

But he refused to give up.

With a shaky breath, Shiro shuffled himself along the wall slow and steady; the long hallway in front of him giving off the illusion that it was never-ending. With the long amount of time it was taking Shiro to travel down, it was beginning to seem more like reality than an illusion.

Suddenly, an ear-splitting crash emitted from the room at the end of the hallway. It was easy to immediately decipher the sound as breaking glass, but Shiro didn’t have the time to go over all the possible scenarios of what happened over in his head. There was no time.

“Keith!—” he coughed, letting out another grunt in frustration as he kept dragging his limping body down the hall. He was tired, and every muscle in his body ached and screamed for rest; but they would have to wait. Behind that door— Keith was struggling. No amount of blood loss or broken bones would get in his way.

The silence was eerie and unsettling, making the hairs on Shiro’s arm stand. He couldn’t help but keep repeating the words _‘please be okay’_ over and over again in his mind as he got closer. The door was just within reach, and Shiro pushed it open with all of his remaining strength.

It was Lotor’s office, albeit a bit messier than he thought it would be. Loose papers and office supplies were scattered across the floor, desk chair pushed onto its side. Then Shiro noticed the glass; the irregular shaped shards sitting below the obviously broken window that was letting a cool air breeze air past him. 

The hole in the window… was big enough for a person to fall through.

“No..” Shiro cried, his legs finally giving out underneath him. He stumbled to the ground in misery, truly feeling beaten, battered and bruised; but nothing he was physically feeling could add up to the pain his heart was currently feeling. How was it possible to be alive when it felt like someone had cut his heart into a million pieces and stitched the pieces together in all the wrong places? How was it possible to be alive when your heart surely had been shattered into more pieces than the window was in front of him?

He felt as if he were already dead.

Shiro shut his eyes, choking back a sob as the hot tears continued to fall and pool at the point of his chin. He couldn’t help but think that maybe this was all his fault, if only he were the one to offer and sneak into Lotor’s office… maybe Keith wouldn’t have been taken from him. _Maybe it could have been him instead of Keith._

As if the universe was sending him a sign to stop thinking that way, the window-sill in front of Shiro creaked jarringly without warning. The sound was almost all too similar to the way floorboards creaked under your weight at night when you snuck downstairs for a late-night midnight snack. Surely, it wasn’t as if the wind could make such a heavy noise. 

“Keith?” he dared to ask, crawling over to the window as quick as he could and stumbling on the way over. Shiro couldn’t recall how he was able to get up so quickly off the floor, but a sliver of hope somehow gave him the strength and momentum to do so. He immediately hit the latch and tucked his fingers under the window to slide it upwards, causing some small leftover pieces of broken glass to fall from the action.

But broken glass wouldn’t stop Shiro now.

Shiro poked his head out and peered down, the sight before him bringing a glimmer to his eye.  
Keith was hanging from the window-sill by one hand, desperately holding onto the ledge for dear life. His tuxedo was roughed up and cut to pieces, maybe even more-so than Shiro’s was, and a scar was cut across his right cheek. But Shiro hardly had the time to take in the view because he was instantly reaching out to take his partners hand.

“Keith!” he cheered, not being able to help the way tears still escaped and dripped down onto Keith. “You’re alive! You’re— You’re really alive…”

Keith looked up at him, his frown spreading to a smile to match Shiro’s excitement. “Shiro!” he responded, trying to use all his strength to swing his free hand up. “I can’t tell you how great it feels to see you right now.”

Shiro grabbed Keith’s hand with his good arm, and slowly pulled Keith up with a loud grunt.

After making it into the safety of the mansion, Shiro fell backwards with Keith close in tow. The smaller male landed on top of him in a messy and tangled hug full of emotions. Keith’s face was buried in Shiro’s shoulder while Shiro’s good hand held him close and rubbed his back.

“I thought you were dead…” Shiro’s voice cracked, “you went silent. I assumed the worst and I—”

Keith pulled away to make eye contact with Shiro, his lips parted in worry and remorse. Shiro’s arm never loosened from where it sat on the small of his bach. He didn’t want to let go again, he wasn’t ready to.

“I’m sorry...” Keith apologized, swallowing after he heard the way his voice rasped. “My comm’s got destroyed while I was fighting with Lotor and I couldn’t contact you. I was so focused on getting that USB that—wait, Shiro, are you hurt!?”

Keith gently caressed the wound he seemed to just notice on Shiro’s shoulder, causing the larger man to shudder. Maybe it was worse than Shiro was making it out to be, but he truly wasn’t concerned with it in the slightest. His number one priority was the man in front of him now.

“I’m fine. _God,_ Keith, I’m more than okay, but I... I was so worried. I can’t lose you.”

Keith bit his lip, moving his other hand to cup Shiro’s face. The act was warm by itself, but the actual warmth radiating off of Keith’s hand was healing. Shiro felt that warmth travel straight from his cheek through his body, similar to taking your first sip of hot tea after preparing it. 

“Shiro, it’ll take a lot more than this to get rid of me,” Keith managed to laugh.

All at once, Keith swiftly closed the distance between them and placed a soft kiss on Shiro’s lips. The action in itself didn’t surprise Shiro in the slightest, and he instead accepted it with open arms. The taste he managed to pick up on his taste buds was both sweet and salty, but ultimately it was a taste Shiro hoped to have the pleasure of experiencing with Keith again. Even if it was just out of the spur of the moment, it felt like a promise of more to come.

After slowly parting, the echoed sound of sirens in the distance cued Shiro and Keith to get the hell out of there. They didn’t want to be anywhere near this building when those authorities arrived.

“C’mon big guy,” Keith sighed, throwing Shiro’s arm over his shoulders and helping him up. “Let’s get you outta here.”

\---

Allura sat back from where she was sitting, turning off the communication device she had been listening to the whole time and placing it on the table in front of her. With a sigh, she brought a hand to her forehead. “I think they forgot I was still here…” she huffed, shaking her head.

“Perhaps, it would be better not to mention it.”

**Author's Note:**

> This is a gift for @shoutzwastaken for the Sheith Secret Santa Exchange on Twitter! I've never actually finished a short fic like this before so this is a very big accomplishment for me uwu  
> Anyways, I really hope you enjoyed reading. Happy holidays and happy new year!❄
> 
> Also a big thank you to my beta reader as well for slapping my illiterate ass and fixing all my grammar mistakes💕✨


End file.
